Who Owns Capital One?

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Capital One is an independent publicly traded company. It’s a subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corp., which was established in 1994 by Richard Fairbank, the current chairman and CEO.

Fairbank’s business began as a credit card and personal banking institution. In 1998, Capital One Bank began offering auto financing, and in 2005, it expanded into commercial banking. Today, Capital One’s headquarters is located in the Capital One Tower in McLean, Virginia, with corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Mexico and the Philippines.

How Capital One Is Governed

Capital One is a publicly traded company. It is run by the CEO, who answers to the board of directors. Shareholders own a percentage of the company, so they also get a say in what happens at Capital One. They get to vote on: 

• Adding and removing people from the board
• The salary of executives
• The financial statements of the company
• Other large decisions

Its shareholders are made up of different institutions, with Vanguard Group and Blackrock holding the largest percentages.

Products and Businesses Owned by Capital One

Capital One has three operating segments — one for each category of financial services: Credit Card, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.

Credit Card

Capital One started as a credit card company, and it stays true to its roots 30 years later by offering an impressive selection of cash-back and travel rewards cards for consumers and small businesses. In addition to its own credit cards, Capital One offers co-branded cards through partnerships with BJs, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, West Elm and other well-known companies. Capital One also offers secured credit cards and cards for students.

The credit card segment is Capital One’s largest, netting $25.67 billion in revenue in 2023.

Consumer Banking

Capital One’s consumer banking segment offers deposit accounts and auto loans to its customers. Its primary deposit accounts, like CD accounts and checking accounts are branded 360, and they have no monthly or overdraft fees and no minimum balances. The bank also has a convenient mobile app and over 70,000 ATMs.

For small businesses looking to open an account, Capital One provides deposit accounts and loans catering to their needs.

Capital One doesn’t make personal or home loans, but it does offer auto financing and refinancing for new and used vehicles. With Capital One Auto Navigator, you can find your new car and pre-qualify for a loan. And you can read car reviews and compare vehicles to help you select your next vehicle. 

Consumer banking is Capital One’s second-largest income producer. Its net revenue was $2.3 billion in 2023

Commercial Banking

Capital One’s commercial banking segment provides lending and depository, capital markets and treasury management services to companies in a wide range of industries, including aerospace/defense/government services, healthcare, finance, technology and energy.

With $3.6 billion in net revenue in 2022, commercial banking is Capital One’s smallest segment, driving 10% of total net revenue.

Discover Acquisition

In 2024, Capital One announced that it would be acquiring Discover.

How to Invest in Capital One

Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange and is part of the S&P 100. If you want to buy shares of Capital One stock, you can find it on your brokerage account. 

Before you start investing, make sure you do your research. As a public company, Capital One publishes annual reports of its revenue and other information about their business.

Nicole Valentine contributed to the reporting for this article.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.

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